Harvest Horse

Large construct, unaligned

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 37 (5d10 + 10)
Speed 50 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
15 (+2)	5 (–3)	14 (+2)	1 (–5)	3 (–4)	1 (–5)

Saving Throws Str +4
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses passive Perception 6
Languages —
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +2

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Beast of Burden. The harvest horse is considered one size larger for the purpose of determining its carrying capacity.
• Construct Nature. The harvest horse doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
• Poor Traversal. The harvest horse must spend two additional feet of movement to move through difficult terrain instead of one additional foot.
• Siege Monster. The harvest horse deals double damage to objects and structures.

ACTIONS

• Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) bludgeoning damage.
• Harvester’s Stampede (Recharge 5–6). The harvest horse moves up to its speed in a straight line and can move through the space of any Large or smaller creature. The first time the harvest horse enters a creature’s space during this move, that creature must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, it takes 7 (2d6) slashing damage and is forced prone. On a success, it takes half as much damage and isn’t forced prone. When the harvest horse moves in this way, it doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.

ABOUT

Weld the front half of an iron horse to a small, patchwork plow, add short blades on either side of the plow, and either a farmer or a necromancer is ready to harvest.

Harvest horses are patchwork constructs made as autonomous plows and crop-harvesters. They are forged from scrap iron and broken farming equipment, reassembled by a village blacksmith, then enchanted by apprentices or local mystics. The resulting constructs vary wildly in cost, appearance, and functionality but take the form of an iron horse bolted to a plow or wagon.

Rural Constructs. Harvest horses are far less sophisticated than the intricate creations favored by nobles or powerful spellcasters. While still expensive for a farmer, their makeshift construction and their animating enchantments means that a good harvest, a reasonable investment, or a loan is often enough to commission one. Once purchased, a harvest horse performs the work of an ox, horse, or donkey without needing food or sleep, getting sick, dying of old age, or being eaten by wolves and monsters.

Even a damaged and destroyed harvest horse can be repaired relatively simply. Maintaining a harvest horse can mean the difference between a family slowly losing what little it has and real stability.

Maintenance Issues. The harvest horse’s simplicity works against it. Harvest horses lack the sophistication of their more expensive counterparts and are more prone to malfunction. They require more supervision than an ox, because they can’t navigate broken terrain, lack even bestial intelligence, occasionally fail to recognize commands, and misidentify fences, clumps of dirt, or living things as crops. Without frequent repair or adjustments, a malfunctioning harvest horse can become as much of a threat as a pack of wolves.

Bandit Tools. Not all who build or buy a harvest horse have good intentions. A harvest horse may not be a capable combatant, but it can drag an enormous load and is more durable than most living livestock. Bandits, town militias, necromancers, and desperate adventurers have been known to steal these constructs, hitch wagons to them, and use them as an improvised chariot or as a tool in grave-robbing. The most ambitious attach small ballista to them, while the more restrained use them as a disruptive and unreliable form of heavy cavalry.